District L

We met Nora Logan of Pure Dead Brilliant during her jewelry showcase at Norwood last month. Concocting collections from curious inspiration, this globetrotter-turned-designer agreed to answer a few of our questions. 

Who do you have in mind when you are designing?

I often have myself in mind when I’m designing, often my designs come from thinking about something I would want to wear! I also have my friends in mind, thinking about their style and use that as a benchmark. It’s fun for me to imagine what people close to me would like to wear since I know them personally.

You created a collection titled, “Who says cassettes are dead.” What was the first cassette you've ever owned?

It was this mix tape that my mother made for exercising in the mid-80s and I had it until my first year at university – it had Elvis Costello, Squeeze, Dire Straits, Bonnie Raitt, the Pet Shop Boys. It was incredible.

Name one artist that you find completely 'Pure Dead Brilliant.'

Recording artist? l am loving Frank Ocean right now.

You have transported fans with your 'Move Me' collection -- now which is your preferred mode of transportation?

Nothing is better than driving a scooter, which is how I get around in Bali. I want to get one for New York but it’s a bit daunting to think of driving in the chaos here.

How would you describe your overall aesthetic?

It is an off-the-cuff, bold aesthetic, one that doesn’t take itself too seriously but is still serious about beautiful quality in both material and design.

After living in some of the best cities in the world, do you have any favorites?

I can’t choose! It’s always going to be between New York and London.

Name one little-known fact about yourself that you'd like readers to know.

I speak Indonesian fluently!

Pure Dead Brilliant

Despite their shared birthplace, heyday era, and iconic prominence, Françoise Hardy and Brigitte Bardot would have been unlikely friends. In her zenith, Bardot was notoriously provocative and intentionally controversial. Françoise Hardy, on the other hand, battled insurmountable shyness during the peak of her fame. While Brigitte’s four marriages were speckled with publicized affairs, Françoise remains married to her long-time companion Jacques Dutronc.

Personally paradoxical, yes, but the combination of these two style stars made for divine inspiration last week in Paco Rabanne’s runway show. Rich in cobalt and metallics, Rabanne presented a functional, yet instinctive collection for our inner-Parisian -- whichever she may be.

Post by Amanda LaMela

This Pre-Fall 2012 season, Alice + Olivia just returned from Paris and they want to tell you all about it. They’re back in their knit berets, round black sunglasses, and 60s-printed sheaths, informing you how many crepes they ate and showing you every single picture they took. And even though they were only gone for a few weeks, they somehow managed to come back with an indistinguishable accent and a tendency to overuse phrases like, “C'est la vie!” and “N'est-ce pas?”

That’s right… their trip was “like, literally, life-changing,” and they won’t let you forget it. So, the least they can do is wrap up a fur-trim cape or floor-length accordion skirt and place it under our Christmas tree, right?

Post by Amanda LaMela

Monday mornings don't have to suck anymore. Well, at least not this one. What do Mondays normally feel like anyway?

Like the warmth of wealth when the heart has grown cold? Like an abstract emotion so rare it has no name? Like a sin we all can't wait to commit?

Normally, the answer would be D. None of the above, because it's 8 degrees outside, it's barely 10, and my inbox is chock full already.

But check out these new TV spots for maverick fetish gear label Slick It Up. With simple, sophisticated art direction and some seriously seductive taglines, nobody other than the award winning photographer Tim Palen of Lionsgate notoriety could lend black latex catsuits an upscale edge.

For more of Tim Palen's work check out his personal website at timpalen.com

Post by Nicolas Sera-Leyva

Carine Roitfeld shocked the industry by announcing her departure from French Vogue this morning. After 10 years as editor, the waif-like, candid Parisian admits, "I have no plan at all."

With killer heels and a nearly shadowless silhouette, young Carine got her start by modeling. Roitfeld began appearing in the pages of magazines like French Elle when she was 18-years old. Her evolution from model to muse was effortless, eventually becoming the consultant to Tom Ford at Gucci and Yves Saint-Laurent.

Maintaining that French Vogue would ultimately impede her creativity, it's assumed she might return to her a-muse-ing ways. Olivier Zahm is already set to publish her biography by Fall 2011, which will undoubtedly result in additional media reaction.

We're hoping a migration to New York? Diddy already took that last train to Paris, but we're sure she'll make it out in time.

Post by Amanda LaMela

The relationship between fashion and the economy is a running motif of District L's in depth industry analyses - there are few correlations in our society with such a tangible and literally visible impact.

The last few seasons, we were all privy to the effect the downturn had on the industry - classic looks oozing with timeless wearability made an especially spectacular re-emergence. Particularly palpable after the decadent, angular 80's glamfest of F/W 2009 to be certain. With the timely rise of recessionista chic, color and concept quickly began to play second fiddle.

Which is why, this season, we were pleasantly surprised to see designers lose their poker faces and begin to go all in. Chances! Risks! Gambles! A touch of the dearly missed caprice and whim of the industry had returned. This attitude was manifested no better than by the escapist, nostalgic, and in some cases almost fairytale-ish surrealism that many labels embraced for Spring, seen everywhere from Monique Lhuillier's seductive Eden enchantress and Toni Francesc's woodland warriors in New York to Mary Katrantzou's digital dreamscapes in London and Karl Lagerfeld and Silvia Venturini's youthful, evocative collection for Fendi in Milan.

But the fun didn't stop there - check out some of these moments from Spring 2011's Great Escape.

Post by Nicolas Sera-Leyva

Photos from Style.com and Jakandjil.com

This morning, WWD reassured us that Paris Fashion Week remains unaffected by Europe's current terror threat. To the untrained eye, the editors and other members of the fashion elite seem unfazed, but District L will clue you in on the real story:

Anna Wintour: Assistant #3? I've heard murmurs about terror in Paris. Check everyone within 500 yards for red paint... Hello? ...Well, don't just stand there - GO.

Andre Leon Talley: Oh, my dear! It looks like I'll have to change into my Louis Vuitton 'Nonchalance' cape. I'd hate to ruin my purple mink.

Outside the Louvre, smoking a cigarette.

Ines de la Fressange: Karl, darling... Is something bad happening here? Anna's assistant is scouring the Louvre for suspicious activity and Andre is hiding in his Nonchalance cape.

Karl Lagerfeld: Wrong here? Other than this never-ending pregnancy trend, the obesity epidemic, and society's obsession with "love"? Probably.

Ines de la Fressange: Just warn me. I'll just hide inside your collar and -

Karl: Wait! Look!

Ines: What?!

Karl: Are those jogging pants?? I thought I notified the press. Those are the world's stealthiest weapons of ass production.

Post by Amanda LaMela

Henry Holland, one of a handful of designers now carrying London Fashion Week.

It is apparent that the fashion industry has been undergoing a deep reassessment. The economy, and the negative impact it has had on the consumer has galvanized the industry into re-evaluating its role and function. Like a multi-national forced into bankruptcy, the fashion world has taken an objective look at itself and decided that the only option is to scale back, trim the fat, and streamline operations. A corporation, however, is a singular, regimented entity with controlled flows of management; the fashion industry is a loose federation of designers, companies, and other individuals that collectively form the business of fashion. How does an entity so plural and so volatile begin to organize itself for change?

One of the more notable shifts in industry activity the past few years has been the slow decline of Milan and London as fashion centers. A decade ago, London Fashion Week was a full week-long event like all the others boasting a full repertoire of heavy-hitters like Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, Preen, Hussein Chalayan, and Alice Temperley of Temperley London. Now, ten years later, McCartney and Chalayan have defected to Paris to reposition themselves among the traditionally higher end labels shown in that city; McQueen, Preen, and even Temperley London now show only in New York City for similar reasons. London Fashion Week is now more of a Fashion Long-Weekend where incumbent Burberry Prorsum and maverick House of Holland headline while supporting a rather rag-tag roster of lesser known independent labels.

Lately, Milan seems to have started down the catwalk to a similar fate. This past Fall 2010, the week-long event was truncated into four densely packed days due to Anna Wintour’s tight schedule; it’s hard to say whether Paris or New York would have ever buckled to same pressure. Although Milan has a hearty line-up every year with the likes of Gucci, Fendi, Versace, and Dolce & Gabbana, they too support an otherwise unknown collection of independent Italian designers; the same couldn’t necessarily be said for London ten years ago.

With New York and Paris as the remaining true, unwavering juggernauts of this multi-billion dollar industry, will the focus shift away from London and Milan entirely? Will there be a mass exodus of designers from Milan to New York and Paris? It leaves one to wonder how the industry will evolve over the next decade, as it crafts itself into a more slender, more lithe incarnation more capable of negotiating a changing world.

Post by Nicolas Sera-Leyva